Nurit Sharett > 7th Week/ 7ª Semana

We left Beijing for one week and went to Tian Shui. A small town in Gansu province, in the middle of China. Feng Kai, a school mate of our friend and the Chinese teacher Echo, invited us for a visit. Feng is involved with culture exchanges between Chinese and foreign artists. Her English is very limited and we couldn’t really understand what were her expectations from us and our visit. But our curiosity and sense of adventure helped us to decide. We bought our train tickets for a 16 hours drive on soft beds.

The days in Tian Shui were full of activities, Feng and her english speaking niece April, had a full program for us. We met a few calligraphers, visited a temple, saw a local Opera rehearsal, visited a local handcraft shop and factory and walked in the streets. From the beginning it was clear to us that we were in a very different city than Beijing. The local people reacted very strongly to our presence and it was obvious that they were not used to see foreigners. In every indoor place we visited, people wanted to be photographed with us. We posed in front of endless phones, hugging giggling young women, or smiling men and women.

The purpose of our visit was a conference Feng arranged on the evening of our second day. Three local artists, Gary and me had each half an hour to introduce our work. A Chinese painting teacher, a calligraphy teacher and a local photographer showed images and talked in Chinese without English translation. Gary showed images from his background as stage designer and the transition he made to being an artist. I was the last to talk. I talked about my process and way of work as a video artist and showed some excerpts of my works “The Sun Glows Over The Mountains“ and “Counting the Stars“. I didn’t feel any reaction from the audience. I didn’t not know if they were only tired or not interested. I suggested to make an open discussion and waited for questions from the audience. A deep silence filled the room. Obviously it is not the common way in China. Once I ended my presentation and the light were on, a long photo shooting took part and a few calligraphers prepared blessings and drawings for us.

We don’t know yet if this visit will lead to any further visits in Tian Shui. We were both happy we had this special experience although the excitement we faced was not so much from meeting us as individuals but as what we represented. Two westerners artists in a remote Chinese town.